Thursday, 17 November 2016

I know its super early to be starting with Christmas activities but we just couldn't wait. After a trip to Hobby Craft and £36 pounds later we arrived back home with a whole list full of fun crafts we could do.
The first one we did was lollypop stick xmas tree decorations which will be able to be hung on the tree once we attach a loop to the top. We used one large lollystick as the trunk and the broke sections of the thinner lolly sticks to make the branches. Once we had the required sizes we painted them all green and allowed them to dry. Once dry we placed them on the trunk and added as many baubles (sequins) as we wanted.

Above are Max (3) and Liam's (8) creations, the both put lots of time and effort into creating them and I think they are really effective. We enjoyed watching them create theirs so much that Phil and I also had a go at decorating some too. This is a really simple idea which is achievable for all ages and would be a lovely addition to the Christmas decorations.

Next up the boys chose to create hand print Santa and Rudolph's these required a little more involvement from me to make sure the paint was applied thick enough and pressed firm enough on the paper, but after this help they were free to decorate and create their Christmas characters.

For Rudolph we used two hand prints one facing up and one down making sure they overlapped slightly.
A googly eye and red fluffy nose later and Rudolph was starting to come to life. Liam chose to add a red stripy scarf complete with pom poms to his Rudolph and wrote his name in glitter glue.

I love how his Rudolph has turned out I think its really nice how much attention to detail he had.
Liam also created the Santa above although this time you can tell he was wanting to do it a lot more independently as the handprint is a little smudged, however I still think it looks great!

Because Max's hands are much smaller than Liam's we were able to fit both his hand print characters on one page. I was very surprised Max had waited to join in with this activity as he does not normally like the idea of hand painting or face painting.
We did the same for Max's Rudolph but instead of a red scarf he wanted to use pom poms. My favourite part of Max's picture is the faces, he came up with a little story as to why Rudolph wasn't happy so he has a sad face and Phil and I had a good laugh at his drunk looking Santa.

I asked Max for a nice photo of him with his picture and instead we ended up playing hide and seek behind his picture. I did eventually get a nice one of him though. Liam didn't want to have his picture taken, the call of 'Inside Out' being on the telly was too strong.

And once again because he saw how much fun the boys were having Phil wanted to give it ago, he created a Santa complete with fluffy beard and nights sky.

I love the facial expression Phil has draw on Santa do but The beard is most definitely my favourite part.
I have really enjoyed spending time with the boys and Phil creating some lovely art which I hope they have enjoyed doing as much as I have enjoyed watching them :)

We have lots more Christmas Crafts planned so keep an eye out for those coming soon. Let me know if you recreate any of our crafts and also if you have any other ideas we could have a go at.

It's that time of year where the air is getting chillier and the leaves are becoming all sorts of glorious colours from red to golden brown. On a rare day off together Phil and I took the boys to a field near by to play a bit of football, but on the way we got distracted by the crunchy autumn leaves on the ground.

It was so nice to see the genuine joy in the boys faces, something so simple supplied such fun.

Of course we did still have a good kick around with the football but I think the highlight was playing with the leaves.

Thursday, 3 November 2016

Its happened again, I've let my blog suffer work got really busy and I haven't managed to find time to blog and document what has been going on. One of the main things that has happened is a lovely holiday to Salou. I would like to share some pictures with you of the trip.

We had a great time even though the weather wasn't as hot as we would have liked but never the less we explored and visited some great places. It was nice to be able to relax and spend some decent time with Phil with no distractions. I love Salou and would recommend it. I would suggest maybe going earlier in the year to get the best weather.

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

I ordered a Snow White kit from the Etsy shop Plannable designs. But it was only one sheet. No headers, no full boxes, no washi, no weekend banner. But the most beautiful decor stickers. Because the set was small I had to pull stickers from other places as well as adding in some drawn detail. Here is my blank planner for this week.

I decided to use a pale blue card as my back drop and marked the different days using a red starry washi. I also used this as my bottom washi to bring the whole page together.
As me and Phil had taken the kids back to visit my family I didn't have as much going on this week which I think worked well with this spread. Once I had planned all the different bits I would be doing during the week I added the decorative stickers. It is just so cute and the stickers are amazing quality, they are matte but printed on a much thicker paper than other stickers I have used.

I really do like how it turned out and I think because I've not had many stickers the attention of the page is really on the decor stickers I do have and the theme of the spread. The only part I'm not to keen on is the drawn quote and mirror. The idea was there but my execution was not I think it lets the spread down but you live and you learn.

As well as my stickers I ordered she also sent me a sampler of a few of her other stickers including a planner sticker and a snail mail sticker which I think is very kind of Plannable Designs. I would re- purchase however I am slightly reluctant as the cost of these stickers was a little higher than some of the others I have used. Still worth trying out though and the quality was top notch.

Wednesday, 17 February 2016

This weeks spread has been created using a set by whimsical flamingo co. As it is Valentine's Day this week I wanted to find some stickers that were cute but not over the top lovey dovey. These ones were perfect! Shipping was quick and easy and my stickers arrived safe and sound.

First of all I needed to lay down my backing paper and Washi.

I ended choosing this peachy coral colour and a cute red Washi with tiny white hearts along it. I really like how it has turned out. Now onto planning the week and decorating.

Look how bloody cute it is! I really like the whole spread and especially how it isn't the traditional valentines colours but you can still tell what holiday it is representing. In the future I will definately place another order with Whimsical Flamingo Co.

Monday, 1 February 2016

My favourite disney film is Tangled and I was really keen to find a sticker set for my planner. I came across Geeky Planner but she only had a small sampler of princesses and not an entire kit. So I decided I would message the owner of the shop and she was thrilled to be able to create a whole tangled kit. As soon as she has finished creating it I ordered one fro my planner. The postage was really quick and cheap which is great. Below is my planner before any decoration…. Sorry the image is a little poor.

I found a nice purple spotted paper and put this as my backing paper. I used the bottom wash provided in the kit and used a thin gold wash to add accents.

Next is the best bit planning out each day and adding the decorative stickers. I really love how it has turned out. I did struggle to find places for some of the stickers in the kit including the hydrate stickers.

I love how it has turned out! My favourite part is Pascal holding a little present as well as the lanterns floating across the pages. I will definitely be placing another order in the near future as the quality and process times were really quick and efficiant.